Trooper Fires on Truck From Helicopter, Leaving Two Dead

A Texas state trooper who fired on a pickup truck from a helicopter during a deadly chase through the desert was trying to disable the vehicle and suspected that it was being used to smuggle drugs, the authorities said. The disclosure on Friday came a day after the episode, which left two illegal immigrants from Guatemala dead on a gravel road near here, just north of the Mexican border. State game wardens were the first to encounter the truck on Thursday. After the driver refused to stop, they radioed for help and the state police responded, said Mike Cox, a spokesman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.